...
“When Grant told us we were the first school in Rhode Island to do it, it made me feel like ‘Wow!’” said 12th-grader Alexis Ambers, one of the students recruited for the course. “Just because we’re from Central Falls doesn’t mean we’re ghetto or hood. We’re also appreciated, because Brown looked at us to do it.”
Alexis’ enthusiasm for the Law and Literature course goes to the very heart of Soljane Martinez’s work. As education coordinator for Brown University’s Annenberg Institute for School Reform, Soljane works tirelessly to meet the needs of local K-12 schools and community organizations with the vast resources at Brown.
“We want to be able to offer the opportunity for students to build that confidence that, ‘Hey, college is for me,’” Soljane said, referring to the pilot program. “To be able to say at age 16 or 17, ‘I got credit from Brown University. I passed this course.’”
...